Two British security guards killed while being held hostage in Iraq died from multiple gunshot wounds, an inquest was told.

Jason Swindlehurst, 38, and Jason Creswell, 39, were kidnapped with three other Britons from the Ministry of Finance building in Baghdad on May 29, 2007.

Salisbury Coroner’s Court was told that the bodies of the two men were delivered in caskets to a police station in the city on June 19 this year. Peter Moore, a civilian computer programmer, and two other hostages, whose names have been given only as Alan and Alec, are believed still to be held.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Moles, who was deployed to Iraq to investigate the kidnapping, said that the Ministry of Finance building had been raided by “a large number of heavily armed persons” and the men taken to an unknown location at gunpoint.

The bodies of Mr Swindlehurst, of Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and Mr Creswell, of Glasgow, were identified initially by their tattoos. The identifications were confirmed by DNA tests.

They were repatriated to RAF Lyneham in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, on June 26, before being taken to John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. Nicholas Hunt, the pathologist, recorded the causes of death as gunshot wounds.

The inquest was adjourned until January 10.

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